Dow 30, S&P, Russell Dip As $ATOS, $HOOD & $MRNA Rip Higher On Hump Day

Happy Hump Day!

I hope you had a great day and also made millions in the markets. However, unless you were invested in Robinhood Markets, Inc. (HOOD), which recently IPO’d at $38/share, & which closed trading today at $70.39, +50.4% higher after hitting $85/share during intraday trading, you may have not made much progress as the majority of the markets participants & sectors closed lower. The Dow 30 closed at 34,792.67 (-.92%), the S&P 500 closed at 4,402.66 (-.46%), & the Nasdaq closed at 14,780.53 (+.13%) & the smalls on the Russell 200o experienced a relatively bad day closing at 2,196.32 (-1.23%). The microchips did not fair well either as trading volumes receded as the iShares Micro-Cap ETF (IWC) closed at $141.78, (-1.66%). 9 of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the red led by the energy sectors 2.9% dip, the industrials , which moved 1.4% lower, & the consumer staples sector which ended down 1.3%. 

The macroeconomic schedule delivered a mix of reports adding confusion to the picture for many adding to the frustration during this last month of the summer doldrums. (Not to mention the massive amount of reports adding confusion related to the Delta variant growth issues and ‘remasking’ of America.) The macro reports were as follows: the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index report for July conferred a rise to 64.1% again confirming expansion was well above the Mendoza line. However, the ADP Employment Change report confirmed an estimated 330k jobs were added to private-sector payrolls in July, unfortunately substantially less than the expected 650k.  The final reading for the July IHS Markit Services PMI came in slightly higher at 59.9 & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report confirmed a drop by 1.7%. Tomorrow, the weekly Initial and Continuing Claims report & the Trade Balance for June will be reported. 

The yield curve jostled around, but at the close the 10-yr treasury yield closed flat at 1.18% after touching 1.21% & the 2-yr yield stayed pat to close at .17%. The U.S. Dollar Index closed .2% higher at 92.27. Gold prices rose $1 to close at $1,813 and silver closed at $25.42, +$.17.

BIOTECH DIVERGENCE

The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) closed at $124.8, -.o2%, but uncomfortably swung from a intraday high of $127.31 to a intraday low of $124.15 as the smaller biotechs took it on the chin today. On the flip side, the target biotechs represented on the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB) closed at $172.15, +1.62% & the NYSE ARCA Biotech Index (^BTK) closed at 5,931.35, +1.41%.

Moderna (MRNA) closed at $419.05, +8.4% after yesterday’s announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had granted Fast Track designation for mRNA-1345, its investigational single-dose mRNA vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in adults older than 60 years of age.

Shares of VP Watchlist firm, Seattle-based Atossa Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATOS), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company seeking to discover and develop innovative medicines in areas of significant unmet medical need with a current focus on breast cancer and COVID-19, closed at $3.15, +9% on 21.38M shares of trading volume after reaching $3.45 in intraday trading. 

TECH

Massively weighted Apple (AAPL) beat analyst estimates last week with revenue increasing 36% Y/Y to $81.4B while iPhone revenue jumped ~+50% in Q2. Shares of Apple closed at $146.95, -.28% today.

Tesla (TSLA) ticked higher again today to close at $710.92, +.17%. No it is not a savings account…

Shares of chip maker NVIDIA (NVDA) keeps on driving higher and closed at $202.74, 2.32% today after their recent 4-1 stock split and is now up 80,57% over the last year. NVIDIA will host a conference call on Wednesday, August 18, at 2 p.m. PT (5 p.m. ET) to discuss its financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year 2022, which ended August 1, 2021. The call will be webcast live (in listen-only mode) on investor.nvidia.com. The company’s prepared remarks will be followed by a question and answer session, which will be limited to questions from financial analysts and institutional investors. Ahead of the call, NVIDIA will provide written commentary on its second-quarter results from its CFO. This material will be posted to investor.nvidia.com immediately after the company’s results are publicly announced at approximately 1:20 p.m. PT.

Microsoft (MSFT) closed at $286.51, -.21%.

Amazon.com (AMZN) closed at 3,354.72, -.34%.

ADT (ADT), the most trusted brand in smart home and business security and a Google (GOOG) partner, closed trading today $10.51, -1.13%. After the close today, ADT reported results for the second quarter of 2021 highlighting that gross recurring monthly revenue (RMR) additions grew 28%, end of period RMR of $352 million increased by 4%, solid customer retention with attrition at 13.3%, commercial recovery continues with improved year-over-year results, & that they are proactively improving capital structure to improve liquidity and address near-term debt maturities.

MEMES 

AMC Entertainment (AMC) closed lower again today at 29,84, -11.64% as it continent to rush back towards earth as the Delta variant case load rises.

GameStop (GME) also closed at $146.80, -3.9%.

Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE) closed at $30.78, -1.97%. 

Robinhood Markets, Inc., went public last Thursday under the ticker ‘HOOD’ & came out at a price to the public of $38/share, but then dropped to a low of $33.25. The stock closed trading today $70.39, +50.4% higher after hitting $85/share intraday trading. No news was offered by the company to drive the frenzy. The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK, $120.22, -.74%), run by Cathie Wood, reportedly recently purchased $45M of HOOD stock. 

Economic Reports

• On Monday, the macroeconomic schedule delivered the July ISM Manufacturing Index report came in slightly lower at 59.5%, but still in the expansion territory. The total construction spending report confirmed a .1% month/month higher move in June. The total private construction report moved up .4% month/month. Total public construction spending dropped 1.2%. The final IHS Market Manufacturing PMI for June was confirmed at 63.4.
• On Tuesday, the Factory Orders report for June confirmed a rise of 1.5%.
• On Wednesday, the ISM Non-Manufacturing Index report for July showed a rise to 64.1% again confirming expansion again well above the Mendoza line. However, the ADP Employment Change report confirmed an estimated 330k jobs were added to private-sector payrolls in July, unfortunately substantially less than the expected 650k.  The final reading for the July IHS Markit Services PMI came in slightly higher at 59.9 & the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index report confirmed a drop by 1.7%.

Investing & Inspiration

1. “In every investment, before I get involved or invest, I always see what the mindset of the founder, the CEO, is.” – Zaza Pachulia
2. “An investment said to have an 80% chance of success sounds far more attractive than one with a 20% chance of failure. The mind can’t easily recognize that they are the same.” – Daniel Kahneman
3. “The return on investment in global health is tremendous, and the biggest bang for the buck comes from vaccines. Vaccines are among the most successful and cost-effective health investments in history.” – Seth Berkley
4. “Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough.” – Richard M. DeVos
5. “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
6. “We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort.”  – Jesse Owens
7. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward- American Writer, Born 1921
8. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
9. “The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine.” – Mike Murdock
10.  “If somebody puts you down or criticizes you, just keep on believing in yourself and turn it into something positive.” – Leah LaBelle
11. “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”. -Thomas A. Edison
12. “Education is not only a ladder of opportunity, but it is also an investment in our future.” – Ed Markey

13. “Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.” – Plato

14. “We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far.” – Swami Vivekananda
15. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

16. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll

17. “Don’t worry about being a star, worry about doing good work, and all that will come to you.” – Ice Cube

18. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” – William Shakespeare

19. “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” – Niels Bohr (Danish Physicist)

20. “It is indeed true that the stock market can forecast the business cycle.” -Paul Samuelson

21. “The wisest rule in investment is: when others are selling, buy. When others are buying, sell. Usually, of course, we do the opposite. When everyone else is buying, we assume they know something we don’t, so we buy. Then people start selling, panic sets in, and we sell too.” – Jonathan Sacks

22. “What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
23. “Each new generation born is in effect an invasion of civilization by little barbarians, who must be civilized before it is too late.” – Thomas Sowell
24. “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
25. “The truth is you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed.” – Eminem

26. “View health as an investment, not an expense.” – John Quelch

27. “Opportunity does not knock, it presents itself when you beat down the door.” – Kyle Chandler

28. “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will get you there.” – Lewis Carroll
29. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” – Willie Nelson
30. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
31. “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.” – Marie Curie
32. “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”–  Duke Ellington
33. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” -Peter Drucker
34. “I’m involved in the stock market, which is fun and, sometimes, very painful.” – Regis Philbin
35. “Who owns the future? This is the question at the heart of every stock market.” – John Landgraf
36. “One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute.” – William Feather
37. “While I’m sure some millennials are concerned with the ethical issues involved in mining for diamonds, the main reason they steer clear of the gems is because, well, they’re a dumb investment.” – Ana Kasparian
38. “The wisest rule in investment is: when others are selling, buy. When others are buying, sell. Usually, of course, we do the opposite. When everyone else is buying, we assume they know something we don’t, so we buy. Then people start selling, panic sets in, and we sell too.” – Jonathan Sack
39. “We must shift our thinking away from short-term gain toward long-term investment and sustainability, and always have the next generations in mind with every decision we make.” –  Deb Haaland
40. “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson
41. “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” – Bear Bryant

42. “Investing in women’s lives is an investment in sustainable development, in human rights, in future generations – and consequently in our own long-term national interests.” -Liya Kebede

43. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”– Winston Churchill

44. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

45. “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.” – Archimedes
46. “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” – George Orwell
47. “If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.” – Elon Musk
48. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” – William Arthur Ward
49. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
50. “Netflix, Amazon, iTunes – whatever platforms emerge – we are looking at as having the same potential that home video had for the movie business. Which means there are entirely new opportunities to monetize our capital investment in content and do so in ways that work for distributors, for consumers and for creators.” – Bob Iger

51. “When you have no one to answer to, vendetta as investment strategy is as legitimate as anything.” – Carl Icahn

52. “No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the future of every economy.” – Brad Henry
53. “In my view, the biggest investment risk is not the volatility of prices, but whether you will suffer a permanent loss of capital. Not only is the mere drop in stock prices not risk, but it is an opportunity. Where else do you look for cheap stocks?” – Li Lu

54. “Modern medical advances have helped millions of people live longer, healthier lives.

55. We owe these improvements to decades of investment in medical research.”– Ike Skelton

56. “Stock market goes up or down, and you can’t adjust your portfolio based on the whims of the market, so you have to have a strategy in a position and stay true to that strategy and not pay attention to noise that could surround any particular investment.” – John Paulson

57. “Your mindset matters. It affects everything – from the business and investment decisions you make, to the way you raise your children, to your stress levels and overall well-being.” – Peter Diamandis
58. “Inflation destroys savings, impedes planning, and discourages investment. That means less productivity and a lower standard of living.” – Kevin Brady
59. “Bitcoin, in the short or even long term, may turn out be a good investment in the same way that anything that is rare can be considered valuable. Like baseball cards. Or a Picasso.” – Andrew Ross Sorkin
60. “I think you have to learn that there’s a company behind every stock and there’s only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies.” – Peter Lynch
61. “Historically, there has been a bull market in the commodities every 20 or 30 years.” – Jim Rogers
62. “The markets generally are unpredictable, so that one has to have different scenarios. The idea that you can actually predict what’s going to happen contradicts my way of looking at the market.” – George Soros
63. “Stop trying to predict the direction of the stock market, the economy or the elections.” – Warren Buffett
64. “An important key to investing is to remember that stocks are not lottery tickets.” – Peter Lynch
65. “Learn everyday, but especially from the experiences of others. It’s cheaper!” – John Bogle
66. “When purchasing depressed stock in troubled companies, seek out the ones with the superior financial positions and avoid the ones with loads of bank debt.” – Peter Lynch
67. “No stock price is too low for bears or too high for bulls.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr.

68. “Investment is most successful when it is most businesslike.” – Ben Graham

69. “Value stocks are about as exciting as watching grass grow, but have you ever noticed just how much your grass grows in a week?” – Christopher Browne

70. “Even the intelligent investor is likely to need considerable willpower to keep from following the crowd.” – Benjamin Graham
71. “Individual who cannot master their emotions are ill-suited to profit from the investment process.” – Benjamin Graham
72. “I made my first investment at age eleven. I was wasting my life until then.” – Warren Buffet
73. “I don’t look to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over.” — Warren Buffett
74. “There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow. It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” – Jack Welch, former CEO of GE
75. “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble” ― Warren Buffett
76. “If you buy things you do not need, soon you will have to sell things you need.” – Warren Buffet
77. “How many millionaires do you know who have become wealthy by investing in savings accounts? I rest my case.” — Robert G. Allen
78. “It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price, than a fair company at a wonderful price.” – Warren Buffett
79. “A market downturn doesn’t bother us. It is an opportunity to increase our ownership of great companies with great management at good prices.” — Warren Buffett
80. “Every once in a while, the market does something so stupid it takes your breath away.” — Jim Cramer
81. “The person who starts simply with the idea of getting rich won’t succeed; you must have a larger ambition.” — John D. Rockefeller
82. “Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch
83. “Although it’s easy to forget sometimes, a share is not a lottery ticket… it’s part ownership of a business.” – Peter Lynch
84. “Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” – Rhonda Katz

85. “Invest for the long haul. Don’t get too greedy and don’t get too scared.” – Shelby M.C. Davis

86. “Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.”
    -Jeremy Siegel
87. “With a good perspective on history, we can have a better understanding of the past and present, and thus a clear vision of the future.” — Carlos Slim Helu
88. “If we like a business, we’re going to buy as much of it as we can and keep it as long as we can. And when we change our mind, we don’t take half measures.” – Warren Buffett

89. “The most contrarian thing of all is not to oppose the crowd but to think for yourself.” — Peter Thiel

90. “Never depend on a single income, make an investment to create a second source.” Warren Buffet

91. “Games are won by players who focus on the playing field –- not by those whose eyes are glued to the scoreboard.”
    ― Warren Buffett
92. “The key to making money in stocks is not to get scared out of them.” – Peter Lynch
93. “Courage taught me no matter how bad a crisis gets … any sound investment will eventually pay off.” — Carlos Slim Helu
94. “Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone
95. “As time goes on, I get more and more convinced that the right method of investment is to put fairly large sums into enterprises which one thinks one knows something about and in the management of which one thoroughly believes.” — John Maynard Keynes
96. “Given a 10% chance of a 100 times payoff, you should take that bet every time.” — Jeff Bezos
97. “Money is always eager and ready to work for anyone who is ready to employ it.” ― Idowu Koyenikan
98. “The secret to investing is to figure out the value of something – and then pay a lot less.” – Joel Greenblatt
99. “We don’t have an analytical advantage, we just look in the right place.” – Seth Klarman
100. “Men, it has been well said, think in herds. It will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one.” – Charles Mackay
101. “It’s not whether you’re right or wrong that’s important, but how much money you make when you’re right and how much you lose when you’re wrong.” – George Soros
102. “No Price is too low for a bear or too high for a bull.” — Anonymous
103. “Investment is an asset or item that is purchased with the hope that it will generate income or appreciate in the future.” Anonymous
104. “Behind every stock is a company. Find out what it’s doing.” — Peter Lynch
105. “Wise spending is part of wise investing. And it’s never too late to start.” –Rhonda Katz
106. “It amazes me how people are often more willing to act based on little or no data than to use data that is a challenge to assemble.” ― Robert Shiller
107. “A bull market is like sex. It feels best just before it ends.” — Barton Biggs
108. “The investor’s chief problem — even his worst enemy — is likely to be himself.” — Benjamin Graham
109. “No profession requires more hard work, intelligence, patience, and mental discipline than successful speculation.” – Robert Rhea
110. “Money is like a sixth sense – and you can’t make use of the other five without it.” – William Somerset Maugham
111. “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” — Albert Einstein
112. “Never count on making a good sale. Have the purchase price be so attractive that even a mediocre sale gives good results” — Warren Buffett
113. “The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient.” – Warren Buffett
114. “Thousands of experts study overbought indicators, head-and-shoulder patterns, put-call ratios, the Fed’s policy on money supply…and they can’t predict markets with any useful consistency, any more than the gizzard squeezers could tell the Roman emperors when the Huns would attack.” – Peter Lynch
115. “Investing puts money to work. The only reason to save money is to invest it.” – Grant Cardone
116. “You cannot save time for your future use however you can invest time for your future.” – John F. Heerdink, Jr. 
117. “Know what you own, and know why you own it.” – Peter Lynch
118. “Liquidity is only there when you don’t need it.” -Old Proverb
119. “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.” – Richard Branson
120. “Fear incites human action far more urgently than does the impressive weight of historical evidence.” – Jeremy Siegel
121. “In investing, what is comfortable is rarely profitable.” – Robert Arnott
122. “Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up.” – Charlie Munger
123. “The entrance strategy is actually more important than the exit strategy.” – Edward Lampert
124. “The rivers don’t drink their own water; Trees don’t eat their own fruits. The sun does not shine for itself, And flowers do not spread their fragrance For themselves. Living for others is a rule of nature” – Pope Francis
125. “It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different from the majority.” – John Templeton
126. “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin.
127. “I believe the returns on investment in the poor are just as exciting as successes achieved in the business arena, and they are even more meaningful!” -Bill Gates
128. “Every portfolio benefits from bonds; they provide a cushion when the stock market hits a rough patch. But avoiding stocks completely could mean your investment won’t grow any faster than the rate of inflation.” – Suze Orman
129. “The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility, and flow of risk capital… the ease or difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” – John F. Kennedy
130. “If all the economists were laid end to end, they’d never reach a conclusion. -George Bernard Shaw
131. “There are old traders and there are bold traders, but there are very few old, bold traders.”-Ed Seykota
132. “Let this scenario play out on its own, in its own fashion. As you watch it unfold, you will soon be grateful that you choose the peaceful path. Remember — those who live by the sword, die by the sword.”
133. “As long as you enjoy investing, you’ll be willing to do the homework and stay in the game.” -Jim Cramer
134. “I rarely think the market is right. I believe non-dividend stocks aren’t much more than baseball cards. They are worth what you can convince someone to pay for it.” -Mark Cuban
135. “Michael Marcus taught me one other thing that is absolutely critical: You have to be willing to make mistakes regularly; there is nothing wrong with it. Michael taught me about making your best judgment, being wrong, making your next best judgment, being wrong, making your third best judgment, and then doubling your money.” -Bruce Kovner
136. “The policy of being too cautious is the greatest risk of all.” -Jawaharlal Nehru
137. “The only true test of whether a stock is “cheap” or “high” is not its current price in relation to some former price, no matter how accustomed we may have become to that former price, but whether the company’s fundamentals are significantly more or less favorable than the current financial-community appraisal of that stock.” -Philip Fisher
138. “I learned to avoid trying to catch up or double up to recoup losses. I also learned that a certain amount of loss will affect your judgment, so you have to put some time between that loss and the next trade.” -Richard Dennis
139. “The four most dangerous words in investing are: ‘this time it’s different.” -Sir John Templeton
140. “Money doesn’t make you happy. I now have $50 million but I was just as happy when I had $48 million.” -Arnold Schwarzenegger